Seventies Bound – Cozy
The large attic
room had four beds on it, and as the evening sun slowly sank below the
skylight, the four women lying on the beds looked at each other, the squeaking
and moaning stopping for a moment as they strained to hear the sound of a car
approaching.
Any car approaching,
as they tried to make sense of what had happened that afternoon…
“Holly, they’ll
be here in a few minutes,” Paula called out as she fixed her earrings in. As she did so, the radio was reporting on the
latest press conference by President Reagan when he met the new British Prime
Minister.
“Can you
believe that – a woman in charge of the British government…” Paula looked at herself in the mirror, her
chestnut blonde hair brushed back in soft waves, with a hint of grey at the
edges to show her age. She was wearing a
brown plush dress, long sleeves with a yoke type collar and a skirt that came
over her knees, and a belt tied round her waist with a bow at the front. The skirt covered the tops of her brown suede
boots, with a two inch high cork heel.
“It’s 1979 Mom
– women are finally taking over,” Holly said as she walked down the stairs, the
heels of her burgundy leather boots clicking on the wooden stairs. Her hair fell in soft waves on the shoulders
of her blue silk blouse. It was open at
the neck, a thin tie loosely secured under the collar. Her matching long skirt was secured round the
waist with a tie belt as well.
“Well, when
Sally and Rhona get here, we can head down to the matinee from here,” Paula
said as she checked her purse. “And then
off to dinner from there.”
“Sounds like a
plan – with Dad and Uncle Steve having to work at the store this afternoon, we
can all have some fun,” Holly said as she brushed her hair.
“So what do you
think?”
“The info says
all four are meeting here before moving on – we wait for the others to arrive,
and then we get to work. Check everything
in the meantime.”
“They’re here,”
Holly called out as she opened the door, allowing her aunt Sally and her cousin
Rhona to come in. Both women had dark
hair, although like Paula Sally had a hint of grey in hers, while she was
wearing a cream top with a little v opening at the front, and a floral motif on
one side. Her skirt was made of the same
material, the bottom of her top covering the waist band, and brown suede boots
on her legs.
Rhona was
wearing the same shade of clothing and style of boots as Holly – but in her case,
the top was a jumper, the waist band of her skirt over the jumper and without a
tie round the waist. Instead, she had a
long wool scarf over her shoulders, the ends knotted.
“Right then,”
Paula said as Holly hugged the new arrivals, “we can…”
“Turn round
with your hands on your heads, and march into the front room.”
“What
the…” All four turned to see four men
standing in the doorway, two carrying sawn-off shotguns which were aimed at the
women, one carrying a large bag, and the fourth closing the door.
“Who are you,
and what are you doing in my house,” Paula demanded.
“We are the men
with the guns, and we’re telling you to get into your front room and shut up –
unless you want to be shut up permanently,” one of the men said as he pointed
the gun at Paula’s face. All four were wearing
denim jackets and jeans, the jackets over black jumpers, leather gloves, work
boots and balaclavas covering their heads, allowing only their eyes and mouths
to be seen.
“Mom…”
“We had better
do as they say,” Paula said quietly as they all put their hands palm down on
their heads, and then walked into the front room.
“Very good – D,
go and make sure nobody else is at home,” the armed man said, one of the men
leaving the room as he said “B, C – close all the curtains in the other
rooms. You,” he said as he aimed the gun
at Holly, “draw the curtains over the windows in this room.”
Holly nodded
slowly as she walked over, taking hold of the edges of the red velvet curtains.
“Hey – and
don’t try to raise the alarm, or Mommy and the others here won’t like it.”
She turned and
nodded as she slowly pulled the curtains over, then walked back over as the man
he had called D came back in.
“No-one else at
home A.”
“Expecting
anyone,” A growled as he looked at Paula.
“No – what is
it you want?”
“Right now,” he
said as D opened the large canvas holdall, and took out some lengths of brown
rope, “I want you and the other old broad to sit on that leather couch, hands
on your head.
“NOW!!!”
Paula and Sally
looked at each other, before they slowly walked over and sat down, their skirts
rising but not showing the tops of their boots.
“Curtains
closed – found somewhere nice we can put them later,” one of the other men said
as they came in.
“Good – B, D,
make sure the younger generation have their hands out of the way.”
“Got it A,” B
said as he took a length of rope from D, before both of them walked behind
Holly and Rhona, grabbing their wrists and pulling them behind their
backs.
“Mommy,” Holly
whispered as she felt the rope around and pulling her wrists together, “what’s
going on?”
“It’s a
robbery, little bitch,” B said quietly as he pulled the rope tighter, “so shut
up and behave, capiche?”
“All right, I
get it,” she whimpered as the cords rubbed on her skin, B taking the lengths
between her arms as well before he tied it off, and then grabbed a second
length. She gasped as her elbows were
drawn together behind her back, her shoulders pulled back and her chest forced
out, but as she glanced over to Rhona she saw she was being bound in the same
way, the dark haired girl biting her lower lip as her elbows were made to touch
behind her back.
“Please, don’t
hurt them,” Sally called out – earning her a slap on the cheek from A as he
said “did we say you could talk? Now shut
up, or you won’t be able to talk.” As
she put her hand to her cheek, Holly and Rhona looked at each other.
“Nice,” A said,
“now make sure they can’t move their arms.”
“What do you…”
Rhona started to say, before D wrapped a long length of rope round her arms and
body, pulling it tight under her chest as her arms were forced against her
back, and the fourth man came back in.
“the dark
haired bitch – start tying her up,” A said, C nodding as he grabbed rope from
the bag and pulled Sally’s arms behind her back, crossing and securing her
wrists together.
She grunted as
she and Paula watched their daughters been even more secured, the ropes now
forming two bands above and below their already prominent chests before the
rope was taken over one shoulder, under the lower band of rope, and pulled
sharply back up again, the bands now forming almost an extra bra around their
breasts.
“Why are you
doing this,” Paula asked as she watched the masked man wrap rope around her
sister’s body in the same way as their daughters, pulling her arms into her
sides and forcing her chest out as the bands sank into the soft plush of her
top.
“I’m coming to
that,” A said as Sally grunted, the ropes rubbing on her chest. C then took the rope under one side of her
body, up and round the back of her neck as he lifted her hair out of the way,
and under the other side, the ropes now framing her top.
“Mommy?”
“Shut the brats
up.”
As Holly
watched, B went to the bag and took out a wide roll of brown sticking plaster,
tearing a long strip free and from the roll before he pressed it firmly over
Rhona’s lips, covering them and the area on her chin around her mouth so that
she could barely speak.
“Oh god – what
if I can’t breathe?”
“Do,” was all B
said as Holly felt the brown material pulling on the skin round her own mouth,
hr lips visible under the tightly stretched brown plaster before they were both
forced to sit in the armchairs.
“Now your
turn,” C said as he took the roll of plaster, and gagged Sally in the same
way. A sneered as he said “so, bitch,
you do as we say, you and the others don’t get hurt, understand?”
“But what do
you want?”
“Let’s go for a
walk,” he said as he took Paula by the arm and walked her out of the room,
saying “let’s start with your jewellery, shall we?”
“Mmmwhtrwgnnndd?”
Sally looked at
Rhona and shook her head as the other three masked intruders sat and watched
them…
“You want me to
do what?”
“I think I made
myself clear,” A said as Paula sat on her bed, watching him emptying the last
of her jewellery boxes into a sack, “call your husband, and tell him exactly
what I told him to tell you.”
“But he’ll call
the police!”
“Not if you
give the massage exactly as I said,” A answered as he picked up the handset,
and handed it to Paula, “dial now.”
Nodding as she
looked at the sawn off shotgun, Paula slowly turned the dial and held the
handset to her head.
“John? I need you to listen very carefully to me,
and don’t react.
“There are four
masked and armed men in the house, and they have Sally, Rhona and Holly as
hostages, as well as me. They say if you
try to call the police or raise the alarm, they will kill us all.
“I know,” Paula
said as she looked at A, “and I wish I was telling a story, but it is the
truth. They say you and Steve are to
send the rest of the staff home for the day, and wait for their colleagues to
come. They’re watching you, and if you
don’t do as they say…”
She listened
for a moment, and then handed A the handset, saying “please, he doesn’t…”
“Let me make
myself clear,” A said as he jabbed the end of the shotgun into Paula’s stomach,
making her gasp. “This is not a joke,
and you will do as we say.”
“Johnny,
please…”
“That’s
better. Send your staff home – we’ll be
in touch soon.” As he put the phone
down, A smiled as he said “much better – now it’s your turn. Stand up and turn round.”
As Paula did
so, he pulled her arms behind her back and started to bind them together with
some rope he had brought up the stairs with him. She grimaced as the rope rubbed on her
wrists, while A bund it around and between her arms. Securing the ends out of reach of her long
fingers, he stripped the rings and watch from her fingers and wrists, and then
took the earrings off, all of them joining the other items in the sack.
“So what happens
now,” she said as she was the rope around her body, and then disappear under
her chest as her arms were forced into her sides.
“We wait –
quietly,” A said as he wrapped the rope around her, “so stand still.”
“I have a
choice,”
“Nope,” A said
as the rope got tighter, forcing her arms to her side and her chest out as the
rope sat on her dress, making her totally secure. Once he had tightened and secured the ropes,
A turned her round and pressed the sticking plaster firmly over her mouth,
before he walked her back down to the front room, making her sit next to Sally
before he turned the radio on.
Time passed
slowly – far more slowly for the four captives than in reality, as the music
played, and they looked at each other.
The plaster was starting to itch, but all were too scared to do
anything…
When the
telephone rang, all four nearly jumped out of their seats, as it rang twice and
stopped. A stood by the phone, quietly
counting down before it rang again, and he picked up the receiver.
“Yeah?
“Good – they’re
secured, unable to raise the alarm?
“Right – get
out of there and head to the rendezvous.
We have things to finish here.”
He replaced the handset and then cut the wire connection the telephone
to the wall, before he said “B – that place?”
“The attic,”
the masked man said as the four women looked at each other. “Stairs, no ladder.”
“Excellent,” A
said as he forced Paula to her feet, the other three helping the remaining
hostages to their feet. “D – bring the
bag. B – lead the way.”
B nodded as he
forced Holly to walk with him, the group heading up the staircase to the second
floor, and then up a second set of stairs as they went into the attic. It had been fitted out as a large bedroom,
with four individual beds, a crocheted bedspread on each bed.
“Excellent –
sit down,” A said as he pushed Paula over, each of the women sitting on a bed
and watching as their ankles were crossed and lashed together with rope. For the two older women, the ropes sank into
the soft suede of the boots, while Holly and Rhona heard the squeak of rope on
leather as their ankles were forced together.
Each of the
masked men then took a longer length of rope from the bags, and started to bind
their legs together above their knees, their skirts gathered around their limbs
as the rope was tightened. They tried to
move their legs, but the ropes were too tight, as they were made to lie on
their sides, their ankles pulled back and secure to their chest ropes so that their
legs were bent at an angle of ninety degrees.
“There – nice
and cozy,” A said as they left, closing and locking the door behind them as all
four women looked at each other, and started to struggle, tying to free themselves
as the sun started to slowly set...
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